The following Background discussion is only for enhancement of understanding of the background of the invention, and therefore it may contain information that does not form the prior art that is already known to a person of ordinary skill in the art.
Some pressure sensors utilize membranes to measure the pressure on the membrane, often relative to a reference pressure inside the pressure sensor. The sensor measures the deflection of the membrane to determine what the pressure differential being experienced by the pressure sensor is. The characteristics of the membrane play a role in determining the magnitude of that deflection. In precision sensors, defects in a membrane such as defects introduced in the process of producing the membrane or defects introduced in the process of fabricating the pressure sensor can prevent a sensor from making accurate readings. Additionally, some pressure sensors require high sensitivity over a large dynamic range, and some pressure sensors such as implantable pressure sensors require a small profile. These two considerations may be at odds. There is an ongoing need for more accurate, more reliable, smaller, and easier to fabricate pressure sensors.